Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Wanted

Morgan Freeman says "motherfucker".

From the beginning, Wanted makes it clear that it is a comic book movie more hardcore than the rest. The violence is more graphic, the profanity unrestrained. And Morgan Freeman-- an actor so deeply associated with his wise paternal caricature that a few short years ago he played the role of God-- finally gets his chance to be the badass.

Wesley Gibson is a jaded "accounts manager" trapped in a meaningless job and disenchanted with life. He knows exactly what his tomorrow is going to be like, because it's going to be exactly the same as today, and exactly the same as yesterday. His boss is a monster, his name gets zero Google results, and he's doomed to a life that amounts to nothing forever and ever... Until Angelina Jolie comes along and gives him the chance to unlock his dormant superpowers, and step into his murdered father's shoes as the greatest assassin the world has ever known-- An unparalleled enforcer of justice (and vengeance?), curving bullets through the air and all sorts of crazy shit like that.

Curving bullets? Oh yes, yes. This could be just any other regular action movie if it weren't for the wacky superpowers these people have. It isn't ever explained why he has these powers (not that I care), except that he was born with them, and we're all the more entertained because of it. Reality, after all, is just one useful measure of complexity, so why not take things a few crazy steps further. By the time people suddenly start defending themselves by shooting the incoming bullets in mid-air, I'm just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

A bullet curves around the room in a full circle, a car jump flips sideways over another car, an assassin's bullet kills a man from miles away, the wings get shot off of flies, and thousands of rats strapped with explosives are used as a base-infiltrating weapon. The movie is totally idiotic, but loads of fun, and totally worth it.

Plus, you get to see Angelina Jolie's bare butt for a two-thirds of a second.